DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Time for an apprentice then Barry?
Thank you for the explanation, always interesting to read.
When I did my body it was the grinding that got to me, the din, the contortions needed and the danger if it dug in hard.
Linishing was much the same.
I was in a single car garage and being so cramped just made me keep a tidy area!

Just love these threads!
Thanks to all for doing this, I know it takes up a lot of time.

911hillclimber wrote:Time for an apprentice then Barry?

Ha ha - I suggested that to Barry a while back.
I don't think he's keen!

Will have to wear him down by the time my son needs gainful employment. I think metal sculpting is one profession that is not about to be made obsolete by speech recognition / expert systems / artificial intelligence / robotics.
Cheers, Richard.

RH Seatbelt Mount

The seatbelt mount area on this side had some nasty pitting / small holes





So the mount came out for blasting and priming



And Barry hammer-formed the replacement section of panel













I expect you're thinking - but where does the mount go? If you put it back in the wrong place, the interior trim will need to be hacked about.
Luckily Barry has thought of this. Did you notice the two small holes in the remaining section of good metal?
Here's what they are for:



Job done:

inaglasshouse wrote:Hi Darren,
Thanks. I shall take that as high praise, coming from you. The Mongrel build thread remains my all-time favourite.
Mine treads no new paths (...yet...) but folks do seem to enjoy seeing Barry at work.
Cheers, Richard.

Thanks Richard, that's very kind.

You know I greatly admire your philosophy behind this project and new paths or not it's alway great see builds that are this good

jtparr wrote:.....Bollocks...you undervalue yourself Barry.....Ask yourself where many of us would be without you....

.....now there's a drum I've been banging for a while!

But then I've always found that beautiful people that don't realise how gorgeous they look are far nicer people than those that do!

RH Inner Wing Front Edge

Similar to the other side.
Grotty:





Pullmax wizardry etc, and a fair amount of fettling (it's a tricky shape):









Small home-made jig in use again:



Not grotty:

RH Floor Edge - Small Repair

As mentioned before, the original floor / tunnel is in good shape. We're only replacing the floor edges.
As well as the obvious, this kind of approach - keep as much original metal as possible - does eat up time with small repairs.
In this example of a small repair there's not much to see from the other side, but now the floor edge is off we can see it's another pitted and holed area that needs to be replaced:

RH Floor Edge

The RH floor edge was scribed in and prepared:









And then, having sanded back and etch-primed the cavity, the floor edge went in for good:











Mmmmm, look at those lovely welds:

That last instalment bought back long hard memories!
It is a very long weld howsoever done along those edges. I spot welded mine to the floor, sealed and then smoothrite paint over old fashioned toxic red oxide. All still there today.
Pity to grind to invisibility those welds for sure!
I did both mine in 1989. Why was my German car so rotten 28 years ago when others were so solid back then? My floor and sill etc were awful then, and I've seen much better shells recently pass though Barry's shop recently.

Hi Graham,

Full respect to you for having been there and done that! I get the feeling that you are gearing up for another go. Hope some of Barry's pics are useful.

I imagine the availability of repair panels, like those torque tube areas from RD, has improved in 28 years, but the prices probably haven't!

I think mine escaped some (by no means all) rot by being in Australia most of its life. Same with my Alfa (South Africa).
In both cases they suffered other indignities to balance the positives!

Cheers, Richard.

Trip to Karterwerks

I get to see my shell this weekend - time for a visit to the house of fine welding.
Among other things, I need to deliver the remaining parts that will be used in the bare metal fit-up / gapping.
In case it's of any interest, here's that list.

Bolt-on and moving panels:
Front bumper
Luggage lid / bonnet
Nearside front wing
Offside Front wing
Nearside door
Offside door
Engine lid
Nearside rear bumper quarter
Offside rear Bumper quarter
Rear number plate panel / valence
Rear overriders

Brackets and hinges:
Nearside front bumper bracket
Offside front bumper bracket
Battery box to outer wing brackets (both)
Both luggage lid / bonnet hinges
Four x (set) door hinges and pins (usually left in place on door)
Engine lid hinges WITH SPECIAL NUTS AND BOLTS

Latches:
Front panel catch assembly with matching luggage lid / bonnet component (have found the missing bit)
Door latch assemblies with screws
B-post catch assemblies with screws
Engine lid catch assembly with matching engine lid component

(desirable)
Any A-post (door) shims*
Any B-post shims*
*Abnormal numbers or thicknesses may give useful clues as to the alignment of the shell

Trim and glass:
LH door window frame, ideally with mounting Allen-headed bolts and glass
RH door window frame, ideally with mounting Allen-headed bolts and glass
Both rear quarter glasses in frames with rear catch
Both rear quarter glass trim (below the window, on top of rear wing)
Both door trims (or I might have given to you - will check)

Lights etc:
Both front indicator units with rubber seal and lens
Both horn grills
Both rear light clusters with rubber seal and outer lenses

Headlight not applicable: use Barry's test unit

Other:
Steering rack cross member
Through sill oil lines

Seals (old ones very acceptable):
Front panel to bonnet
Luggage lid / bonnet seal (goes up sides of bonnet and across scuttle)
Front scuttle to front wing seals (x2)
Nearside door seal
Offside door seal
Nearside bumper quarter to rear wing quarter seal (goes between bumper and rear wing)
Offside bumper quarter to rear wing quarter seal (goes between bumper and rear wing)
Rear number plate panel to rear cross member seal
Horn Grille Seals

RH Torque Tube Area

Work begins on the Torque Tube area. First job is correction of a couple of previous repairs.
First the intermediate panel, which was left with a big chunk missing at the end of previous work. Lighter, I guess, but not ideal for structural integrity of this area.

Barry free-handed the repair panel in 18swg as usual. Will be welded in as part of the final assembly of the TT / inner sill area.

RH Torque Tube Area

The other correction was to a repair below the torque tube, in the area of the ARB mount.

Doesn't look too bad:


But not so nice from the other side:


Out it comes:


Sorted:

RH Torque Tube Area

The sill cavity got a final clean-out and paint, and the new heater tube was fitted, before the sill went on.

RH Torque Tube Area

Moving on with the RH Torque Tube, Barry said:

As per the other side, I removed the rather pitted end of the otherwise good torque tube, and used the last of my spare tube to add on a new section. This was then back-marked from the jig bracket using a stepped tool which gives the correct tube protrusion.

After that, the new inner wing base could be roughly trimmed down, and the shape (flanges especially) could be tweaked and tidied as best as possible before the numerous trial fits could begin. On this side it went on for ages. A combination of so-so pressing, previous welding and accident damage meant it took simply ages to get everything to work.

BTW, before the repair was fitted, it got keyed up, black etch primed in the centre, and Wurth Bright Zinc primed around the weld sites, just the same as the other repairs.